


The Rich Man and the Wedding Maiden

by fckloyalty



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Love at First Sight, Married Couple, Modern AU, Retrospective, Soulmates, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-09-28 01:54:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20417945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fckloyalty/pseuds/fckloyalty
Summary: Jaime Lannister had never been the type to settle down. And he had never attended family events. But when his sister was getting married, he made an exception. Unexpectedly, when he was about to leave, he met a strange, blonde girl, dumped by her date, who became his companion for the whole night and changed his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Who doesn't love a bit of modern AU with soft, heart eyes, "have my babies", (bottom) Jaime? Hope you will like this journey of our drunk babies falling in love, discovering they are meant for each other. The fluffiest of fluffs. Enjoy!

_Weddings_. He sighed.

More like another occasion to get drunk without limits and without people around telling you that you are a shame to the whole family. At least once.

It was already close to midnight. He was leaning on the door-frame, after he needed a break from this noise, watching most of the guests being already unable to stand still. Yet somehow the whole dancefloor was still filled, which thankfully meant everyone (else) was having a good time. Unfortunately, in this mass of sweat, he could barely spot his sister. Moving his eyes from one guest to another, he finally needed to admit that the music was truly catchy and if only he had someone to dance with he would at least consider joining them.

But as tradition went – he always attended such events alone. He wasn’t the type to settle down, even though he was almost forty. No relationship had ever felt right to him and he always ended it before everything started getting serious. And he had always thought that he and Cersei will be these forever single twins, living together and annoying each other till they are too old to move. But then she surprised him. He had never seen her as happy as she was when she was showing him her engagement ring. She moved out a few days later to her new fiancé – Oberyn, who was the businessman from a competitive company. Cersei had always loved to keep her rivals close and Jaime had no doubt that she had sex with that man before knowing his name, but that day she was truly happy. She couldn’t stop talking about their relationship and plans for the future and Jaime couldn’t believe that it was the same woman who just a few months earlier didn’t accept the word “wife” spoken around her. So rarely he had seen her smiling from sheer happiness that he didn’t have any other choice but to support her in it no matter what. Seeing how smile didn’t leave her face during the whole ceremony was definitely worth it.

“Jaime!” He heard her voice from behind. _There she was_. He turned around and saw his sister holding her fledgling husband’s hand. “Are you leaving already?” she asked and he needed to admit – he didn’t think about it before, but it was indeed a great idea. He had enough of this gathering.

“I guess I will grab a drink or two more and then go.”

“I knew making you my best maid wouldn’t be the best idea.” She poked him and laughed. Actually, he was quite hurt when he got to know that she made Margaery her best maid, but he would have never told her about it. “Family meetings were always a torture to you.”

Little did Cersei know – or more pretended not to know or possibly didn’t care – that when she was always treated as a favorite child, who always got everything she ever wanted, Jaime was neglected and mocked. Family events were indeed a nightmare for him, as he was always treated as the one who made them ashamed of how little he achieved and his father tended to “forget” about him while introducing his children. After some time he started avoiding any gatherings like that, but he couldn’t leave his sister in such an important day for her. This one time he made an exception.

“But still you have helped us a lot with organizing this. We are more than thankful,” Oberyn said, bringing him back to reality and smiled, pulling Cersei closer. There was probably nothing wrong with this man, but Jaime was still having a hard time liking him. But that was another thing he couldn’t show.

“Everything for my little sister.” He smiled back to Oberyn and kissed Cersei on a cheek, making her frown. “Have fun you two,” he wished them, said goodbye and headed to the bar. _Two more drinks and I am out of here._

Surprisingly, there weren’t many people there. Most of the others must have already taken all the drinks and brought them to their tables or were unable to reach the bar, which was further away from the main room and thankfully quieter. The only ones who have stayed there were one of their uncles – already asleep on the edge of the countertop and blonde girl he didn’t recognize, who looked like that night wasn’t her night as well.

He took the seat in the middle and asked the bartender for a drink. In the meantime, he was looking at the girl sitting just two seats away from him, who looked like she was sleeping, but because of the constant miserable noises she made, he knew she was only resting her head on the bar. When he noticed empty glass in front of her, he silently asked the bartender for a second drink and when the man brought him both, he moved closer to her, hoping at least for mild entertainment.

“Bad night, huh?” he asked and put a drink in front of the girl.

“I’m never coming to a wedding again.” She didn’t seem to care about who is talking to her. She was visibly desperate for a vent and as he didn’t have anything more interesting to do, he went for it.

“That’s a bold statement. What went so wrong?” He didn’t get a verbal answer. In reply, she just pointed behind herself. He looked there and saw Loras Tyrell making out with another guy in the corner. Was that… Renly Baratheon? He was checking all the lists before the wedding and didn’t notice they were coming together. Renly was supposed to bring a girl. And that was the moment when Jaime realized what was happening and his eyes went back to blonde sitting next to him.

“You’re Brienne. You’re Renly’s date.” He tried his best to hide the smile on his face. This girl was truly having a tough evening.

“Were. And it’s a nice way to describe a cover-up” She finally reached for a drink, sending him a soft smile as a thank-you. A really pretty soft smile. Her eyes looked swollen (from crying most likely), which strangely only highlighted their blue color. For the same reason, her nose and cheeks were in few shades of red, but Jaime didn’t think it stole any beauty from her fragile, freckled face.

She drunk a whole glass in one sip and wiped the corner of her lips. In the moves, she wasn’t as delicate as her features were. “And you? Why you’re here and not there?” She pointed at the dancefloor, where his sister and her new husband were currently dancing with other guests.

“I’m not a fan of sweat. And people. I’m Jaime, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know who you are,” she replied and he almost heard the sarcasm in her voice. He looked at her questioningly. “I work for you. I’m a security guard,” she quickly explained and he raised his eyebrows in shock.

That was the last thing Jaime expected to hear as he could have sworn he had never seen her before. And what’s more important – she looked really young. But when he examined her body he could have somehow understood that – she was really tall, probably taller than average. She may have looked a bit manly with broader shoulders as well, but still, the short, tight dress she was wearing not only was an ideal fit on her, but also highlighted her super long legs. Legs which went all the way down to the floor, where she needed to draw them up. Legs which made him had all the variety of immediate ideas what could have been done with them and legs which finally made him loosen his tie a bit when he felt sudden heat flow. All in all, it was pretty confusing – he was passing through their company’s security check almost every day if she was there he was sure he would have remembered her.

“You may know my father. Selwyn Tarth – he is the head of security,” she added, seeing his confused face and indeed she was right. He nodded. “I am mostly private guard. I have accompanied your sister many times. And I am going almost everywhere with Renly. He knows me quite well, that’s why he asked me out.” She sighed and looked once again at her ex-date in the corner.

“Hey, you’re not working now, stop checking him out,” Jaime scolded her. He didn’t know this girl very well, but it seemed like she couldn’t let it go and it was weirdly making him feel miserable as well. “I am sure Loras is taking care of his belongings.” He chuckled looking at the men out of curiosity, but instantly he regretted letting that sound out of himself.

“Yeah, go make fun out of me. Nothing will be worse than this embarrassment.” She went back to resting her forehead on the countertop and he rolled his eyes. Why did he get himself into this ridiculous conversation?

“Come on, it can’t be _that_ bad.” He actually thought it was pretty bad.

“Were you ever asked out by super handsome guy to the posh and elegant event just to be dumped an hour later for another guy?” She raised her head only to ask that question and then placed it back where it was before.

“Will you be surprised that my answer is _no_?” He laughed again and he heard her loud wail from hopelessness. “Okay, I’m sorry. I will stop laughing. This is a very serious situation.” He tried his best to keep straight face. “And Renly is a douchebag. I have never liked him.”

His words didn’t make a girl any better. He could have left this conversation and left the party just as he planned, but he needed to admit, despite being completely strange, this situation was more fun than he thought it will be in the beginning. He couldn’t explain what was it, but something in this girl intrigued him and it wasn’t only her legs. And that’s why a minute later he put another drink in front of her, making loud sound with glass so she could hear it even without looking.

“If you want to get me drunk, I have already taken care of it,” she replied firmly and didn’t move.

“It’s my sister’s wedding, I need to take care that _all_ the guests are having a great time and will say only good things about Lannister’s events.” That was the thing he was telling people around. No one needed to know that it was far from the truth.

“Even though she’s bossy, egoistic and probably would never do the same for you?” She didn’t seem any more cheerful but at least she straightened up on her chair. She looked at him, curious what will be his response and he needed to admit – she drew his attention one more time by the way she saw him through.

“Are you aware of the fact that I may fire you for speaking so disrespectfully about my sister?” She might have been right, but she still offended his sister.

“I know who am I speaking to. You have too little shares in the company to do it. You are not even working there.” She finally sent him a playful smile, taking pride in the way she bit back.

“Ouch.” He acted like he has been hurt in a chest, but could he be even mad at her for telling the truth? He needed to think about the proper response at least. “Were you telling such things to Renly as well?”

Mentioning the name of her disaster date wasn’t particularly the best idea. She once again hit the countertop with her head. Trying to stop the laugh, he put a hand on her shoulder trying to raise her up again.

“Okay, no more mentioning of him tonight.”

“You don’t have to pity me.” He heard she was on the verge of tears. Alcohol must have already started working on her and that was why she got so overemotional. He had seen his sister in this state many times before.

“I am far from pitying you. I just want to have some fun. And I want you to have fun as well.” Himself from half an hour ago wouldn’t be the happiest about his decision, but somehow meeting this strange, a little bit drunk girl dumped by her date changed his attitude to this event. In the end, he did all he could to make everything work that day, so he could finally have some pleasure from it as well.

After she heard his words, she raised her head a bit, but only to send him a questioning look. He could have seen she didn’t believe in his words in the way she was piercing him with her eyes.

“Drink,” he said, nodding in the direction of the glass.

“You want me to get drunk. And forget about everything.”

“Isn’t it solving any problem in the world?”

“If you’re a rich alcoholic then for sure.” She straightened up on a chair once again, moving hair from her face. He felt that his words are slowly working. “But more down-to-earth people actually cope with their problems in healthier ways like I don’t know… talking it through.” She apparently searched for an idea in her head by raising her eyes in an adorable way and nodded in the end.

“Then I’m glad I found a company for the night.” He smiled to her widely, knowing he was winning at that moment and involuntarily she smiled back to him, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe she was actually going for it. He knew he fully convinced her when she finally reached for a glass and drowned her lips in the drink. He watched her face carefully when she was serving herself and his smile even widened. The way her eyes closed when she felt the taste of the drink. The way she wiped it from the corner of her lips again. And the way she looked at him back and raised her brows, probably curious why he was looking at her so closely. There was something in her that made him never want to stop looking at her. But eventually, he moved his eyes and asked the bartender for another drink.

That was when they started coping with their problems in a way that Brienne thought it should work – by talking, still deciding that drinking in the background was nothing bad, which was his favorite part. He didn’t even mind that instead of whining about Renly, she started talking about herself.

First few drinks - she told him why she is security guard just like her father, saying that it’s probably because her mother died when she was only two years old and she was spending her whole time with him. It wasn’t like she had always dreamed about being security guard (and he could have imagined that), but still, her father usually encouraged her to work on her physical condition and be strong and that was why she felt like it was the most obvious choice. Listening to her, he needed to admit that when it came to a family-wise situation they could really connect – they both had father only, who pressured their own expectations on them and they both didn’t really remember their mothers. Despite the loud music and other people’s conversations around, she even confessed to him that she had lost her siblings while they were all kids.

“It was almost twenty years ago. An accident. Sometimes I feel like I forget how they looked like. It’s hard to mourn someone you didn’t know.”

He wanted to comfort her instantly. And she looked like she needed that. She was sitting there right next to him, caressing glass and looking at her hands closely. She went silent for the first time since they have started talking, just like mentioning this traumatic experience made her instantly sober. His eyes moved to her hands as well and before he could have even considered it, he reached for one of them with his own and held it, rubbing it gently with his thumb. When he did that she immediately looked at him questioningly, but seeing his warm, sympathetic smile she sent him a thankful smile in response.

He knew that it would be the best for them if he just changed the topic for something more light-weight, but after a few more drinks, he also felt that he owed her a confession. He told her about how neglected by his own family he felt. How intelligent his sister was, how witty was his younger brother and how he just didn’t fit in this flawless picture. How he was always a black sheep of the family. How everyone treated him like a shame to the family and like he wasn’t good enough and how he had always let them down by not keeping up fast enough. She was listening to him carefully, nodding from time to time as a sign that she understood what he meant and wanted him to continue. He was encouraged to tell her everything about it. Before he had never shared it with anyone, but despite the place and situation they were in with her, it didn’t feel weird at all.

“But were you ever _really_ interested in taking over family’s business?” she asked finally, after he finished his vent, feeling at least few times better. Did talking really help better than alcohol and she was right since the beginning?

“I…, “ he started but then he realized: “…I actually didn’t. I wanted to work on my own. Start my own business or stuff like that. Work hard and achieve something without their money and contacts.”

“Then you shouldn’t care so much about how they treat you.” She sipped on another drink through the straw, watching his face.

“But it’s my family. Shouldn’t their opinion be important to me?”

“If you focused on doing something you want, it wouldn’t matter anymore. You would feel truly valuable thanks to yourself.” Her hand placed on his shoulder and she looked into his eyes closely. He nodded to show her that she was right and she sent him an encouraging smile.

There was something about her that really attracted him. She may have met him less than three hours earlier and she might have been super drunk already, but she still listened to him and understood him better than his own family did for the last forty years. With no one before he felt such a bold connection. And even despite the fact that they talked a lot, he felt like the smiles and looks that they gave each other also meant a lot. In such a short amount of time, she helped him with so many struggles that he held for all these years. At that point, he couldn’t even believe that he was about to leave the wedding and if he didn’t decide to grab a drink, he would have probably never met her.

At one point bartender didn’t even wait for his sign, he just brought them more new drinks, which they finished quickly. Thankfully with even more drinks, their conversation changed from heavy topics to much lighter ones. He explained to her all family connections, pointing at random wedding guests and trying to figure out himself how he is related to them. It wasn’t an easy task, considering that he drunk much more than he usually did, but he could have noticed that alcohol was getting to her much stronger than it was to him. All in all, he was quite happy to see that Brienne was slowly forgetting about Renly as she was lying her arm on the countertop or her head on his shoulder from time to time, laughing at his bad jokes and telling him things that she probably wouldn’t have told him or anyone else sober. Few hours from the beginning of their conversation he had already known that she was never dating anyone for longer than few months, that she was living alone in the outskirts of the city and that her favorite thing to do was to cry alone to the same romantic comedy every single evening. He wasn’t surprised at all when she finally told him that she was madly in love with Renly and he wasn’t even more surprised when the name of her date made her miserable again. And this time she was drunk miserable, which was probably even worse state that she was in, in the beginning.

“I look hideous, no doubt Renly left me,” she cried, putting her forehead on his chest like she was craving comfort again. But this time she was much drunker and it surprised him how openly she craved physical contact. He hesitantly placed one of his hands on her back, rubbing and patting it unsteadily. The bartender was watching this whole situation, giving Jaime questioning looks and he just mouthed _I don’t know what I’m doing_ back to him and kept on comforting the girl.

“What do you mean?” Jaime asked finally, trying to fight the buzzing alcohol in his head to focus on girl’s words. He slowly moved a bit away to look at her face.

“I am ugly,” she whipped one more time and wiped her cheeks with both of her hands. He tilted his head looking at her. Maybe it was only him being drunk and his judgment being disturbed, but at that moment she was actually really pretty? Since the beginning, he didn’t think she lacked beauty in any part of her body, but at that moment he could tell that she was almost shining. Her hair was in the nice, light shade of blonde, her eyes were in the amazing shade of blue, freckles on her nose and cheeks were pretty adorable and she had a beautiful smile that he, unfortunately, didn’t see for a long moment. Renly really didn’t know what he was missing. Also _legs_. Amazing legs that caught his attention since the first time he saw them. And legs that gave him an idea. “What?” she asked him finally, seeing his playful smile.

“We said no more mentioning his name,” Jaime said and bent to her side, standing up. “Also you have amazing legs. Make use of them,” he whispered last words directly to her ear and he could notice her skin shivering. She raised her eyes and looked into his. 

“No,” she said firmly, shaking her head and once again she held her drink.

“Yes. Come on.” He reached for her hand but she moved it away.

“I am not dancing.”

“You are. You owe me that.” He was already swinging to the rhythm of the music.

“Owe you? For getting me drunk?”

“Exactly.” He reached for her hand again and finally succeeded in holding it. “Come on.” He moved his head in the direction of the dancefloor, but she was still pretty negative about this whole idea. “Come on or else I will tell my sister that you called her bossy.”

“You are almost as drunk as I am. You won’t remember I said it anyway,” she replied confidently, but in the end, trying to stop a smile, she let him pull her. He didn’t let her hand go until they were exactly in the middle.

There weren’t many people left there, yet the music was still playing loud. Jaime started dancing with his arms up in the air as soon as they got there and instantly made her laugh. She joined him soon, spinning around and moving her head to the rhythm. She was indeed taller than him - her heels made the difference even bigger, but it didn’t bother him, as it only made her legs look better. Whenever they were facing each other, they were sending each other wide smiles or bursting out laughing. He spun her few times around and he could notice she was singing the song under her breath. Seeing her being so unsure about agreeing on his idea at first, he wouldn’t tell she will be having so much fun. Guess alcohol ended up helping in something.

They danced to so many songs together that they couldn’t even tell for how long they did that. Both enjoyed it so much (or were so drunk already) that they didn’t notice when the music suddenly changed. Finally when the DJ announced that it was number for “lovers whose love was stronger than the darkness of the night” they realized what was happening.

As soon as the slow love-song started playing from the speakers the awkward moment occurred between them. There was no one else on the dancefloor at that moment. Brienne looked around, most likely wanting to run away back to her comfort zone, but when she looked at Jaime again to see what he was about to do she was surprised seeing his hand reaching for hers.

“May I have this dance?” he asked and smiled to her encouragingly. He had no idea what he was doing. Alcohol made him completely unable to think straight, but he really felt that he just wanted her closer. She couldn’t really make up her mind as well and she didn’t say any word. She only nodded and let him pull her closer. She breathed in when her body hit his, feeling the warmth of it and embraced his neck with her arms.

He placed his hands on her waist making sure that she is close to him. They were rocking to the sides to the rhythm and spinning around slowly. At first, they didn’t look at each other, going through the whole room with their eyes, trying to feel at least a little bit more comfortable. But slowly second after the second whole situation started being less and less awkward and they stopped even caring that they were the only people dancing. Jaime finally looked at girl’s face, even if he needed to raise his chin a bit to look directly into her eyes. Seeing him looking at her she couldn’t resist looking back into his eyes and when she finally did that she smiled shyly. They kept on silently looking at each other during most of the song. He felt his heart beating faster when he saw her biting her lip and at that moment he would love to know what she was thinking. But at least he knew what he himself was having in his mind then and he didn’t hesitate to share it with her.

“You have amazing legs,” he whispered to her ear finally, placing his head on her shoulder. He inhaled and he needed to admit – she smelled beautiful. He barely stopped himself from rubbing her neck with his nose.

“I think I have heard that already.” She laughed softly and he really liked that sound.

“You _really_ have amazing legs,” he repeated wanting to hear that again and he wasn’t disappointed.

“And you are drunk.”

“No, Brienne. No.” He moved away a bit to look into her smiling eyes. She was getting more and more beautiful with every minute. ” You need to say a compliment back.”

“You are rich, you don’t need me to assure you that you are handsome.” And hotter with every word.

“Oh, so you think I am handsome?” She rolled her eyes hearing his words.

“I do,” she admitted finally, grinned and he felt that her fingers are gently stroking back of his neck. When she bit her lip again, he started going crazy, feeling that he wants her even closer.

He laughed shortly, trying to control himself and act normally, but slowly his eyes moved from her eyes to her lips. The tension was building up between them and they started breathing harder as their hearts were beating faster. He couldn’t even tell anymore if it was the heat in the room or the alcohol or them together simply being so close to each other. He could feel that she felt that as well and he was even more sure when she got a bit closer to him. And as much as he wished he didn’t – watching out for their physical state – he got closer to her as well and without thinking too much, he firmly joined their lips. She kissed him back passionately as soon as she felt his lips on hers and they exchanged kisses for a longer time. He placed his hands on her back, pulling her closer to himself and she did the same going through his hair with her fingers. They both tried to get some air in between kisses but they couldn’t stay away from each other for too long. He completely forgot about how inappropriate this may have looked and ignoring a bunch of half-conscious people around them, he focused on her lips, moving his hands from her body to her face.

He didn’t even notice when they ended up in his rented room. He carried her through the corridor, trying not to fall down, but still letting her embrace him with her legs and kiss him all the way. All these images were mixing in his head with an unbelievable amount of alcohol that he consumed that evening and he wasn’t even sure anymore if all of that was happening for real.

When they got to the bed she took off his tie, tore down his shirt and he desperately helped her with unzipping her dress and throwing it to the other side of the room. The fact that they couldn’t stop kissing and keep their hands to each other wasn’t making anything easier. And if he thought that he couldn’t control himself before, there were no words to explain what he felt when he saw her only in her underwear. When she finally lied in front of him with her hands above her head and he was placing kisses on her neck, moving his hands up and down her tights, he felt like his desires were finally fulfilled. But he was pleasantly surprised when she suddenly rolled over and sat on his legs. He smiled to her and when she smiled back to him he just closed his eyes, resting his head comfortably on the pillow.

And just when he thought that he was going to be appeased that night, the moment she started unzipping his pants, he instantly became sober and realized what they were doing. They were both drunk. So drunk that they probably won’t remember anything the next morning. Did he really want that? He was more than sure that he wanted her, but at that moment he didn’t care much about himself. He saw her dumped by her date that night and how it made her feel and he spent enough time with her to start genuinely liking her. Everything felt great with her. And she was great. Did he want more than just one-night stand with her? And would this one-night stand destroy the possibility of more? He swore to never drunk that much again as he really couldn’t make up his mind, so he just he took a deep breath.

“Brienne, stop,” he said finally and she stopped undoing his pants’ belt to look at him questioningly. He couldn’t believe he was actually doing this as he was craving her more than anything else at that moment, but he raised his body, propping it on his arms and looked at her. “I don’t want you to regret that in the morning.”

“I won’t,” she said confidently and instantly wanted to get back to what she was doing.

“I cannot let you do this. I got you so drunk and I feel responsible for this.” He raised his upper body and held her hands, watching her face carefully. When she realized he was being serious, in one moment her face saddened and she moved from his legs and sat on the side of the bed.

“Just tell me you do not find me attractive.” She buried face in her hands. Seeing her reaction he was finally sure that he did the right thing. He couldn’t imagine how she would feel in the morning if they actually did that. And he couldn’t imagine what he would feel seeing her emotionally devastated because of him.

“That’s not true.” He moved closer to her, placed both of his hands on her shoulders from behind and started stroking them gently. “You are beautiful. And sexy. But we are both too drunk to do this. You deserve much more than that,” he confessed and kissed her shoulder.

“I don’t believe you.” She didn’t look at him still.

“You don’t have to. But for now, I think we both should just cool down, go to sleep and see how things are when we are sober. And if you will still want me, then I will be all yours. Does it sound a bit more convincing?” He looked above her shoulder, trying to see her reaction. She turned her head to him and after examining his face for a moment, she nodded.

When they both lied down and covered themselves with bedsheets, he looked at her one more time. She noticed that and looked at him as well. He smiled to her and didn’t resist when she cautiously, almost like fearing a rejection, moved closer to him. He embraced her with his arm and she placed her head on his chest. When he looked at her again she was already asleep, snoring quietly. He moved hair from her face gently, sighed and looked at the ceiling. What was he even doing? He was never that type of the guy, but he needed to admit - it just felt right with her. It felt right to stop them before they do something they will regret later, it felt right to talk to her about all the things he has never talked about to anyone before and finally it felt right to let her sleep in his arms. And even though it wasn’t what he was usually doing, he had never felt better. He knew that to him she had already meant more than a typical one-night stand. He only quietly hoped that when it came to her it wasn’t only alcohol as well. Trying to move this too-heavy-for-his-drunk-head thought away, he held her tighter, closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

***

When he woke up in the morning (or was it afternoon already?) the sun was shining much brighter on his face than he would want it to. Even before he opened his eyes he could feel a huge headache and he lost any will to move his body. He tried to slowly remember what happened last night. And when he heard some noises, he forced himself to check what it was, hoping it will help him refresh his memory. When he finally opened one of them he saw a tall, blonde girl standing up and taking on her dress. _Brienne_ he sighed. The images of the whole evening started finally coming back to him. How he could forget her even for the slightest second?

“Good morning,” he said, smiling softly to her. Finally, he was not drunk, maybe a little bit hungover, but she was still beautiful.

“I didn’t want to wake you up,” she replied and hearing his words she started rushing even more.

“It’s good that you did. I wouldn’t want you to leave without a word.”

“Look,” she started cold, ignoring his words and once she put on her dress, she sat at the side of the bed. She wasn’t even looking at him. He could see that she didn’t want to show how ashamed she was, so he just let her talk. “We can both pretend it didn’t happen. I behaved so foolishly, I shouldn’t have let myself do that…”

He was listening to her explaining how she didn’t want to behave the way she did and how embarrassed she felt and how she should have never drunk so much alcohol at once and how she would prefer him not to tell his sister as it may put her father in bad position as well and even though her words were really important to him – all he could focus on was her face. Even despite being still half-asleep he was thankful that he could finally look at her sober and notice all the small details he didn’t notice last night. Her snub nose was covered with freckles which were as adorable as he remembered and her cheeks were glowing, but as soon as he moved his eyes to her lips he forgot about everything else.

“You are beautiful,” he said, cutting in her never-ending monologue. She was visibly surprised by his words and instantly went silent, curious about what he had to say. He sat on the bed, moved closer to her and reached for her hand. “I won’t tell anyone as long as you don’t want it. But I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen.”

“You didn’t want to-“

He didn’t let her finish, because he exactly knew what she was talking about.

“I didn’t, because it didn’t feel right. But not because I didn’t want to do it…” he confessed to her and she finally looked in his eyes. “…but because I want more than that.” He sent her unsure smile, almost shrugging his shoulders and waiting for her reaction. He may have been hungover and still unable to think clearly, but these were the words he wanted to tell her since the moment he stopped her last night.

“Are you still drunk?” she asked, tilting her head and looking at him closely. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but seeing her soft smile was a good sign. When she put her hand on his face and started caressing it gently, he knew she was already convinced.

“If I were, would I do this?” He held her chin with his fingers and placed a kiss on her lips. They tasted even better than he remembered. When he moved away he finally noticed a wide smile on her face.

“You know, you are horrible at this? That’s exactly what you did when you were drunk.” 

“I know, I just wanted to kiss you again.” He smiled widely, making her blush all over her face and leaned forward for another kiss. This one was longer and this time without hesitation she kissed him back, holding his face in her hands and pulling him closer.

They took a moment for themselves, tasting each other with relief that it all felt just as good or even better than it felt the night before. Kissing her each time felt like the first time to him and every single time he wanted her even more.

“So what now?” she asked breaking kiss and looking into his eyes. He held her as close as he could.

“Well, we can stay here for whole day…” he proposed, but then she mouthed _I can’t I have work_ to him and he added: “… or we can meet afterwards.”

“I like that.” She nodded and placed one more kiss on his cheek. He repaid her with a small kiss on the nose which made her laugh lightly.

She stood up reluctantly, holding his hand to the moment when she was too far away to reach it, straightened her dress and quickly got into her heels. He was watching her for the whole time, deciding that rays of sunshine made her look like a goddess. Suddenly she blushed all over her face and he smirked seeing the reason for it. On her way to the doors she found the shirt that she tore down from him the last night. She shook her head, picked it up from the floor and threw in his direction to which he replied with short _thanks_. When she finally wanted to leave, he stopped her.

“Wait, at what time do you finish? I will come and take you out.”

“At midnight,” she replied and smiled instantly.

“That sounds familiar.” He laughed shortly. Had midnight just started becoming _their_ hour?

“Hope that this time my date won’t dump me for another guy,” she said, opening the doors. She mentioned Renly and didn’t burst into tears. He could have called that an achievement.

“I can’t promise anything. But no alcohol this time. Just in case.” He winked at her and she blushed all over her face and neck again. He didn’t regret stopping them last night, but now that he wanted her even more and he was sure that he wanted him as well, he hoped next chance will come as soon as possible. 

“Enough alcohol for the whole month. Just in case.” She winked back at him, just when he thought he couldn’t like her more. How did she do that, that any time she bit back she was even hotter? She almost wanted to leave but before taking a step out of the room, she stopped and turned around. “Thank you,” she said and he wasn’t really sure for which of the things she was thanking him for but he just shrugged his arms like it was nothing. She waved him goodbye and closed the doors.

After she left he was still lying in the bed for a long time, trying to convince himself that everything that was happening wasn’t just a dream. He tried to sort out everything in his head. But the headache wasn’t necessarily helpful. So he just randomly met that girl in the bar last night, the girl who was dumped by her date for another boy and he ended up talking to her for the whole night, getting drunk with her, then dancing with her, kissing her and almost having sex with her? And it wasn’t just another girl that he would easily forget. She was one of her kind. She was so down-to-earth, she understood him and listened to him and apparently, there was a high possibility that she was even better sober. And she was also the most beautiful girl he had ever met with a smile that could have brightened up his whole world and legs that didn’t leave his mind for the whole evening and especially after he examined them with his hands. And what the most unbelievable in this strange situation – that girl seemed to return his affections. He shook his head and covered eyes with a hand, fighting the huge smile that wanted to appear on his face, realizing how pathetic his thoughts may have sounded. Wasn’t he too old for that? He just felt like he wanted to do everything with her. And get to know her better. Even better. For sure he was too old for that. But maybe that was it? Maybe that was the thing that he couldn’t have found before for so many years? Maybe that was the thing that was the reason for all the failed relationships in the past? Maybe they just weren’t meant to be, unlike this thing? Remembering her soft smile, freckles on the nose and the view of her surrounded by the rays of sunshine, which he wouldn’t complain to see every single morning from now on, he really hoped that it was it, cause if it really was, then settling down didn’t seem so bad. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 20 years later Jaime and Brienne are married with three almost grown-up kids. They are finally telling their kids about their first meeting and beginning of their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you will love that fluff twist. Here comes a story about Jaime and Briennes' first date, first weeks of being together and how some family members got to know about their relationship told by them to their kids. Please meet Tyler, Isabella and Joanna Lannister. 
> 
> Of course, retrospections are written in italics.

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“Remember when me and mom told you that we met at work?”

Triple head nod. “Yes, you both worked at aunt Cece’s company.”

“That wasn’t exactly like that.”

Confusion on twins’ faces. Jaime could tell that Ty and Bella were not impressed by what they had heard. But the spark of excitement in Joanna’s eyes made it all worth it and encouraged him to keep going.

“So… where did you meet then?” she asked.

“At aunt Cersei’s wedding.”

Two of them laughed. Bella just rolled her eyes. Jaime and Brienne looked at each other, kind of knowing that, that could be the initial reactions. They spent long nights wondering if it was the right time to tell their children the truth about how they got to know each other. They knew it was nothing that will shake their lives and make them feel betrayed, but for long years they felt like they weren’t honest enough with them and they owed them few more stories from their life.

“Come on, her wedding was like a month ago.”

“At her _first_ wedding,” Jaime clarified and sighed. When Cersei and Oberyn got married, he really felt that his sister changed. Oberyn thought so as well. But the illusion of their perfect marriage ended when local newspapers caught Cersei cheating on him with few businessmen. They separated six months after they have told each other that they will be together till the end.

“Oh right, I remember you told me she was married twice before.” He thanked Joanna with a warm look. “So when was that _first_ wedding?”

“Twenty years ago.” This round anniversary was one of the two reasons why they have decided to tell them the truth now. The other one was twins turning eighteen. And Joanna was just two years younger.

“You didn’t lie about that,” Bella pointed out and looked suspiciously at both Jaime and Brienne. They knew that she wouldn’t be pleased easily. “So why didn’t you tell us about this wedding from the beginning?”

They both took a deep breath.

“Cause we got drunk.”

“I was drunk when he talked to me for the first time.”

“And I was drunk too, soon after.”

“And…? People get drunk all the time.” Bella still didn’t look amused.

“We drunk way too much.”

“Okay, you got drunk, we get that. We are not mad at you. Can I go now?” she asked finally.

“Bel, wait!” Joanna stopped her from standing up. “You got drunk, okay. But we still don’t know how you ended up together…” She turned to her parents again.

They took a deep breath. Again.

“We woke up in bed together.” That was the main thing they tried not to tell their kids for all these years. If they were younger, they wouldn’t understand it well enough, but now as three of them were almost adults, aware of such topics, it felt like the right time to share it with them.

That night when they have met could have happened twenty years earlier, but with Jaime’s words, all the memories came back. They both almost shivered remembering their emotions so distinctively. They made out quite uncontrollably back then. And they _almost_ had sex. Almost.

“Did you…?” Ty joined the conversation in the worst moment possible.

“No!” they answered at the same time.

“Nothing happened between us. That night.” Brienne explained calmly and with a corner of her eye, she saw Jaime smiling, when she added _that night_. She looked at him reproachfully, but he just rolled his eyes playfully.

All of their kids nodded their heads, slowly processing everything they have heard. Both Jaime and Brienne gave them as much time as they needed to understand everything. Inside they have already sighed with relief feeling like the worst was behind them.

“That’s good, right? It’s better to remember something like-,“ the boy started finally but his sister interrupted him quickly.

“So you didn’t work together? This was all made up? You didn’t know each other before at all?” Bella needed to remind them that in the end, they lied to them, but she seemed less angry this time and more curious.

“I didn’t know her,” Jaime confessed.

“I did know him but never got to talk to him. I have worked at Cersei’s company, so I have seen him quite often and known his whole family. But he didn’t work there.”

“And dad still talked to you first?” Joanna’s eyes sparked.

“He did, cause, to be honest, I was looking quite miserable, but that’s another story.”

“Aww, dad, that’s so nice that you wanted to cheer mom up.” She smiled at him widely.

“Yes, he chose not the best way to do it, but I guess he achieved what he aimed for.” Brienne smiled to herself, remembering these moments.

“Remember we compromised back then. We were drinking _and_ talking. We wouldn’t be here without your stubbornness,” he corrected her, giving her credit as well.

“And how did you meet again?” Joanna seemed very much invested in the whole story and Jaime sent her another warm smile.

“It just happened. I woke up that morning, saw her and thought that I want to wake up with her every single day from now on.” Jaime looked at Brienne and sighed, remembering every second of the first morning with her and especially the first time that he looked at her then. She was as beautiful as twenty years earlier.

Joanna reacted to his words with loud and long _awwwww._

“He was convincing enough that I simply agreed on another meeting when he suggested it. We just felt an instant connection. Like we have known each other for years.” Brienne looked back at her husband and sighed as well. During that one evening, they got to know each other better than they did with other people for many years. She reached for his hand under the table and they tied their fingers.

“So like soulmates? Almost like love from the first sight!” Jo screamed happily and clapped her hands.

“Enough!” said Bella firmly, scaring her younger sister, breathing out and standing up from the table. Jaime and Brienne exchanged looks, reacting to her behavior, but they decided not to make any comment about it. “When you will be done with these corny stories, call me.” She sent her parents pressured smile, but still kissed their cheeks, hugging them shortly.

“Don’t be back too late. Love you!” Jaime shouted to her when she was heading to the doors. He wasn’t surprised that it was enough for her, but he needed to remember to talk to her later.

“I will! Love you back!” she shouted back and left the house.

“Sooooo...” Jaime started again, looking at the two that were left. Tyler was accepting anything that they told him right away, worryingly enjoying spicier parts the most and Joanna was just staring at them with her big, dreamy eyes, excited for a more interesting story than “we met at work, colleagues set us up”. 

“Sooooo… tell us where did you go and what did you do on your first date. I hope it was something romantic.” The girl was tapping her feet, impatient to hear the rest.

“Tyler, you up for one more story?”

“Yeah, why not? I can always hear something that I can use whenever you will be angry at me” he replied grinning. Brienne shook her head as she still couldn’t believe how much their son looked like his father. Tyler was a carbon copy of Jaime.

“Alright, I guess there’s no coming back now.”

“So we have met the evening after the wedding…” Brienne started and Joanna reacted to it with short _yessss_.

“…we planned to go for the walk, but the weather was against us,” Jaime carried the story.

_It was fifteen minutes till midnight and he was waiting for her outside of his family company’s building. While minutes were passing he was walking from left to right. And from right to left in front of the entrance, watching sky above him. **Please don’t rain, please don’t rain** he repeated to himself, but he felt like with every word he was only bringing clouds closer. _

_At such a late hour, all the public places were slowly closing, so the only thing that they could do was to walk to the nearby park. And the walk wasn’t even a choice if it will start raining. He breathed out angrily and started counting his steps to calm himself down, looking at his watch and seeing that there were five minutes left to midnight. He started feeling something down in his stomach and frowned realizing how unpleasant it was._

“Aww, dad, you were stressed!’

“In fact, I was terrified. Most of the time, actually the whole time we spent together we were drunk. I almost felt like she won’t like me sober.”

“Mom, tell us what you have felt then!”

_The last minutes before midnight were like torture to her. She was watching the clock constantly, trying not to act too desperate and come out from the building exactly at midnight. She already was desperate enough to bring three outfits to work to change and watch them closely for half an hour._

“Three?” Jaime chuckled.

“Three.”

_She ended up choosing a similar dress to one she was wearing on the wedding. She remembered how much he liked her legs, so if he lost interest in her already, maybe that would convince him to spend at least that one night with her. _

_When the clock chimed midnight, she made sure she closed all the doors in the company that she was responsible for, she fixed her hair and taking a deep breath she headed to the exit. She needed to take another deep breath before opening the doors, but when she finally saw him she forgot about all the stress. Something in him instantly calmed her down and seeing how he was nervously stepping from one side to another made her laugh. Hearing hthat he turned to her and smiled back. _

_“Who the hell came up with such horrendous working hours?” he asked her and she kept smiling widely._

“When I saw your smile I immediately knew I have nothing to worry about.”

“But we still felt a bit awkward around each other in the beginning.”

_“I don’t know, you tell me.” She got closer and stopped right in front of him. She had no idea if it would be okay to kiss him or hug him or at least shake hands with him. All the options seemed ridiculous for different reasons. _

_And all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her at that moment. He couldn’t believe he managed to be without her for a few hours. But he ended up doing… nothing. They just stood next to each other, awkwardly rubbing their hands against their bodies and looking around searching for something to save them. They sent each other nervous smiles, hoping the other one would say anything to break the silence. _

_And that was when it started raining. But raining wasn’t the right word to describe what was actually happening. It felt like someone was up there pouring buckets of water on them. They looked at each other and immediately hid under the roof._

“I felt like everything was ruined then.”

“But it actually ended up better than we thought…”

_“So what are we going to do now? We can’t walk in such rain,” she said and looked at him. And he was clueless._

“Oh, by the way, we know we could have called a taxi and go home, but the easiest solutions just don’t come to your mind in such situations.”

_Thankfully, she came up with something herself. Without telling him about her idea, she turned around, searched for keys in her bag and opened the doors again. _

_“What are you doing?”_

_“We need a dry place to spend some time. And we have a pretty fancy dining room in our company.” She winked at him and without a second thought he followed her. That didn’t sound like a bad idea at all. And for sure it was better than getting wet outside. _

_“I hope you have some food. I’m hungry,” he said and she only rolled her eyes hearing his words._

_In fact – they had quite a lot of food left in the fridges. When Jaime looked over her shoulder when she was checking what they had inside one of them, he noticed shelves full of boxes. _

_“Was Cersei here today?” he asked._

_“Yes, she brought all of that stuff, complaining that guests didn’t eat anything.” Jaime raised his eyebrows. His sister came back to daily life pretty fast. _

_“I actually didn’t eat anything there.”_

_“Me neither.” _

_The boxes from the wedding really served all types of food from shrimps and mules, through spaghetti and tortillas to chicken and burgers. They chose whatever they wanted and placed it on the plates to imitate elegant supper. They took chalices, but remembering that they promised each other they will stay away from alcohol for some time, they poured juice there. After they both took seats at one of the fancy small round tables, he looked at their plates closely and started thinking hard. There was something missing. And soon he knew what was it. _

_“Where are you going?” she asked when he left his chair and followed him with his eyes. _

_He searched through the kitchen drawers and when he found what he was looking for, he proudly came back to the table. When he was lighting up the candles, she was giving him confused looks. _

_“Really?”_

_“I want it to be done properly.” And when he finished, he placed himself in front of her again. “Enjoy your meal.”_

_“Thank you, you too.” _

_They were both more hungry than they realized before, but they couldn’t stop talking. Every next topic seemed to melt the ice that was between them and make them feel more comfortable, but even though they started sending braver smiles and looks to each other, they were still afraid to make the next move and reach for the hand of the other one._

“So you had a romantic date in aunt Cece’s company,” Joanna nodded her head, feeling satisfied with what she had heard.

“And that was it?” Unlike his sister, Tyler was disappointed.

“Not really…” Jaime started and looked at Brienne who bit her lip, remembering what happened next.

_He noticed that she was exhausted. When she finished her meal, her head fell on her hand propped on the elbow. She tried to keep her eyes open and reply to him, but more often she was just mumbling words._

_“Brienne, you are falling asleep,” he pointed out and smiled at her gently. _

_“No, I’m not. I am sorry” she replied right away, straightening on her chair. _

_“Brienne…” he started and finally felt like it was the right moment to reach for her hand which freely lied on the countertop. He sighed when he finally held it and realized how much he needed to feel that again. She must have felt something as well cause she immediately glanced at their hands. “… you are exhausted,” he finished slowly and she looked at his face this time, almost unconscious. _

_She nodded her head unwillingly. She really seemed like she will be asleep in a matter of seconds._

_“Didn’t Cersei order new couch recently?” he asked suddenly and the girl looked at him confused._

_“She did, why?”_

_“I have an idea.”_

_He stood up and pulled her by hand, so she will follow him. They found a new couch in one of the rooms and when Jaime moved the foil away from it, he looked at Brienne, smiling._

_“What do you want--? Oh no, Cersei will be furious.” She realized what he wanted to do and she tried to wake herself up but gently slapping her face._

_“She won’t know we were here. We will take a nap and leave before anyone arrives.”_

“At that point, wasn’t going home just the most obvious thing to do?”

“I told you, obvious solutions don’t come to your head in such moments.”

“What your father meant by that, is that he wanted us to have another chance to sleep together.”

“Sleep?”

“Yes, Tyler, sleep.”

_When she lied down on the couch, Cersei’s frustration didn’t matter anymore. She felt like she was flying. She had never thought that furniture could be that comfortable. Or maybe it was her own exhaustion that made her feel like that. He was right – she was out of energy and she would kill for at least a few hours of rest. But at the same time, she wanted to spend some more time with him. Sleeping there seemed like the only idea to combine both of these things. She didn’t even notice when she started floating away to the arms of dreams and the only thing keeping her aware of reality was his hand gripping her own._

_Uncontrollably she rolled into his arms and he hugged her tighter. She sighed as his lips were the last thing she felt before she fell asleep._

_He needed to take a deeper breath when he felt her close again. He was craving it for the whole day and finally feeling her warmth and having her in his arms was indescribable feeling. He laid a kiss on her forehead, pulled her hair behind her ear and smiled pressing a cheek to her head. He wasn’t as tired as she was, but Cersei’s couch was doing its thing and he fell asleep soon after._

“That’s a very adorable story”

“I wish it was the end.”

“There’s more?”

_Jaime thought that Cersei had the most radical ways to wake people up until he felt piercing pain going through his arm and then his legs. Before he opened his eyes, he heard angry voice above him. When he finally did that the situation didn’t become any clearer._

_“Hands of my daughter!”_

_Being still half asleep he didn’t fully realize what was happening. Someone was screaming. Actually two people were screaming. One of them was Brienne, who successfully stopped the stick (which was the source of his pain) from hitting him again. The other one… was Brienne’s father. Brienne’s father who probably came to work in the morning and seeing the mess in the kitchen checked all the rooms and found them sleeping together. And probably wanted to kill him at that moment._

“That was a grandpa! I wish we could get to know him.”

“I’m sure he would like you much more than he liked me.”

“What are you talking about? He loved you.”

“Back then – he _hated_ me. He disliked me for being a Lannister already and he hated me when he caught us together.”

_“Can you stop?” Brienne at that moment was as angry as her father. Looking at this whole scene felt like watching two reflections of the mirror arguing. _

_“What is **he** doing here?” Her father asked pointing at Jaime, who felt like staying out of this was the best thing he could do, especially that he already felt he had bruises on his limbs. He should probably leave the room as soon as possible._

_“He was here with me,” the girl said firmly. “We stayed here after my shift because it was raining.”_

_“But what was he doing here with you?”_

_Brienne hesitated. She didn’t answer right away and looked at Jaime, thinking intensively._

_“Give me a moment. Just a moment, please, and I will explain it all to you,” she finally spoke calmly to her father, who was visibly conflicted inside, but it worked on him and he left the room. _

_In that moment Jaime joined her. _

_“What was that? He attacked us with a damn cane. Are you alright?”_

_“Yes, thankfully, he was aiming at you” she replied, trying to fight the anger. “You need to leave.”_

_“What? No, I’m not leaving you with this lunatic.” _

_“It’s my **father**. I will explain it all to him. Your presence will only make it worse.”_

_“I can’t...” But when he looked at her and noticed how stressed she was, he knew he was already convinced. “Okay, but only if you call me right after.” He put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. He smiled to her softly, hoping to see her smiling back. _

_“I still don’t have your number,” she pointed out shyly and quickly he took her phone, found his own and they typed their phone numbers. “Now I can do that.” She smiled finally and he smiled back wider. Seeing her smile in that situation was a relief._

_“You sure you will be fine?” he asked one more time and put hands on her shoulders again. He looked her in the eyes, trying to find an answer to the question himself. He didn’t notice when he got a bit closer to her and looked at her lips. The image of kissing her made a wave of heat go through his body. _

_She felt the same and she didn’t think twice before she quickly joined their lips. Remembering that her father is in the room next to them, she wanted to do it fast, but when she felt his lips on hers again she just wanted to keep going and feel him closer to her and…_

“Brienne,” Jaime said her name calmly and she looked at him. He gave her a look and put a hand on her thigh and she realized that she may be giving their kids too many details.

Tyler was looking at her with his typical Jaime’s grin and Joanna had her eyes wide open and was covering her face with hands.

“I’m sorry,” she said and continued the story.

_She breathed out with relief when Jaime left and her father was finally calmer. He worked for these people, how come he was so furious in the presence of one of them? Ah, right. Cause he caught him with his daughter in his arms._

_She was trying to sort out everything in her head and choose whatever was the best to say out loud._

_“So..?” her father started. “I’m waiting for an explanation.” _

_“We have been here together.” She breathed out, fearing his reaction. _

_Thankfully he wanted to find out the truth. “I managed to notice that. But how? And why?” _

_She really needed to tell him that, right? _

_“We have met yesterday on the wedding,” she finally let it out. _

_“Didn’t you go there with Baratheon?”_

_“Yes, I did. And he dumped me after an hour. Jaime talked to me and thanks to him I had a nice evening.”_

_“Jaime? When you started calling a Lannister by his name?”_

_“When I got to know him. And he is not even working here, why do you have such a problem with that?”_

_“Because it doesn’t change the fact that he is a Lannister. What did he do to make you do this? Pay you?”_

_Did he just really…? She felt the tears coming to her eyes, but she didn’t want to show him how much it hurt her. “I can’t believe you have said that. You can’t accept the fact that someone may just like me.”_

_“Like you? Such people don’t **like us**, they use us.”_

_She let out one tear come from her eye, but wiped it instantly. She needed to finally say what she was keeping inside. “He makes me feel good. He is the first person who ever made me feel this good about myself. I don’t know if he is different than others, but I want to take that risk. I am sorry to disappoint you, but you will have to accept my decision. I am not a child anymore.”_

_She didn’t even want to hear his answer. She didn’t even want him to answer. She hoped she made him realize the value of this whole situation and that he will have to think about it. She took her bag and coat and left as fast as she could._

Jaime held her hand while she was telling their kids about it. He got to know about their argument not long after, cause Brienne called him just as she promised. He tried to calm her down through phone, while she was crying. And when they have met again the next evening they also talked about it.

“Was grandpa angry at you for a long time?” Joanna asked quietly.

“He needed some time to accept that there is something between me and _a Lannister_. And that I wasn’t going to give up on it. Once he noticed that this is serious and he didn’t have to be overprotective, he came to terms with it.”

Both Joanna and Tyler nodded their heads.

“Okay, I guess that’s enough for today,” Jaime said and his kids weren’t the happiest about it.

Brienne smiled softly seeing their reaction. “I promise we still have some stories to tell you.”

It was already getting late, so they let their kids go to their rooms, telling them goodnight and hugging them tight. And after they cleaned after dinner and washed the dishes together, they also went to their bedroom to get some well-deserved rest.

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“I told you, it won’t go as bad as you thought. You didn’t have to worry about anything,” Jaime said to Brienne, lying on the bed.

“_You_ were the one who thought it will go bad and _you _were the one who was worried,” she corrected him, not raising her eyes from the book.

He rolled his eyes and got closer to her, putting his arm around her waist.

“It was nice to go back to some moments,” he said, placing his head on her hip.

“Yes, indeed” she agreed, still being more focused on the book.

He didn’t like the fact that she was giving him no attention. There must have been a way to make her look at him and after a minute of thinking, he knew what was it.

“You know there are many memories that we can share with them…” he started.

“…yes, Jaime, we are married for almost twenty years, that’s pretty normal I would say…”

“…but there are some we should keep only for ourselves,” he finished, looking at her with a grin on his face. She finally moved her eyes from the book, looked at him and that was the moment when he knew he succeeded.

Spending all these years with him she recognized the tone of his voice. “I think it’s time for sleep, Jaime,” she said, keeping a serious face and put the book away. She knew it will immediately make him frustrated.

“Noooo,” he moaned and she almost laughed. He was such a child. She was raising not three, but four kids. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Doing what?” she asked, continuing the game and bit her bottom lip. She loved playing with him and teasing him for as long as she could, but this time she didn’t oppose too much when he got closer to her and buried his face between her shoulder and neck.

“You are one hell of a woman,” he mumbled against her skin and placed a kiss there. She let a breath out of her mouth. And then he placed another kiss a little bit higher. And another one. And one more getting to the middle of her neck. He started placing kisses only in that one spot and undoing her gown’s laces, he slipped a hand under the fabric.

She moaned quietly but immediately put her hand on his. “Kids are still awake,” she said, but still unwillingly turned her head to the side, giving him more space to cherish her neck with his mouth.

“We can do it as quiet as possible,” he whispered and moved his hand further and skimmed one of her breasts with his fingers. Brienne breathed in air through the nose, stopping the sound coming from her mouth.

“You were the one to tell me to let it all out.” Sharing some memories seemed like a better idea at that moment, even though she was barely controlling herself and she was tempted to give in.

Thankfully her words got him interested.

“You remember that?” he asked, looked at her and grinned. He accepted that she preferred to talk for now and he sat down on the bed, lacing her gown again. She thanked him for that with a smile.

“How could I forget? We have been meeting for over two weeks then, but we never really got the chance to stay alone for long before. That night we spent an evening at your place and for all these hours I hoped you will make a move…”

“...but I just waited for a sign from you that you want it.”

“I was shy, I had no idea how to do this.”

“Thankfully you figured it out before you left.”

_He was just about to open his apartment’s doors but she turned around to him and stopped him with a hand. She felt like she was taking control of the situation and she liked that feeling. She pushed him backwards, in the direction of the sofa and he smiled, realizing what she was doing. She really wanted it. They haven’t been close since the evening when they have met and she felt like with every touch and with every kiss she craved him even more. The fact that he was letting her do that made her even more excited. She was focused on his eyes, trying to tell him something that she wasn’t able to fit into words. _

“I can’t believe I was so horny from the beginning. That’s so awkward to remember.”

“Awkward? Come on, I loved seeing you like that.”

_When they got to the sofa she softly pushed him and he obediently sat on it. He embraced her waist and raised his head to still look into her eyes. She was looking at him as well and he almost shivered when he finally felt her gentle touch on his skin again. He didn’t feel it for so many days. How could he manage to live without it? He needed to take a deeper breath when she went through his hair with her fingers. When she lowered her hand to his face, he turned his head to it and kissed the inside of her palm. She went through his mouth with her thumb and bending she finally placed a kiss there, biting his lower lip. When she let him go, she needed to take a deeper breath as well and when she looked at him again, he sent her a smile. _

_„Come here,” he said and she finally smiled back to him widely. He lied down to the back, pulling her with him and joined their lips again. She lied on his body and without stopping kissing him she roughly undid few buttons of his shirt. “Why don’t you just tear it down from me like last time?”_

_She blushed all over her face but kept going. “There are times when I try to control myself.” She raised her body, straddling him and placing herself on his lap, she unbuttoned her shirt as well. He was watching her closely, putting his hands on her thighs and needed to take a deeper breath when she threw her shirt on the floor. She really didn’t need to do much to make him go crazy. _

_“I’m not complaining, even if you don’t.” He pulled her back to him and started kissing her neck, while she tried to take off his shirt completely. Finally, he helped her with that, but he was already frustrated with how his sofa was only limiting their moves. They needed a more comfortable place. _

_Without a second thought, he told her: “Hold tight” and lifted her up. Thankfully, she listened to him immediately and embraced him with both her legs and arms, laughing._

_“I think I need to get used to that,” she said as she clung to him, holding herself tight._

_“Do you complain?” he asked, stopping and moving a bit away to look at her. Part of hair fell on her face and she was still smiling widely. He could count all of her freckles, finally being so close and being able to fully experience her features. _

“You were so beautiful. You still are, but when I saw you from up-close so confident and happy, I just felt like I could do everything for you. And you were such a flirt as well. You already loved to play with me back then.”

_“I do.” She nodded. “Because it’s taking you so long,” she added, drawing circles with her finger on his arm and then placing kisses there. _

_“I am sorry that I try to be gentlemen.” He tried not to laugh at how impatient she was. _

_“Apologizes accepted,” she said and gave him a short kiss as a sign that she was not mad at him. “Now may you continue please, cause I’m going crazy,” she whispered against his lips and he didn’t need any more encouragement._

“I was so thrilled that finally, everything felt right and that nothing was going to stop us.”

_Before he opened his bedroom, he pressed her to the doors to which she replied with a quiet groan. There was no need for them to hurry. He started kissing her neck again and smiled when he noticed that she closed her eyes and started floating away. All the sounds coming from her mouth made him even more turned on. He could feel he was already hard and he made sure that she was feeling that as well. When he pushed his hips closer to her she took a deep breath and laid her forehead on his shoulder. He felt that she embraced him even tighter with her legs. He took advantage of that and slowly started rubbing the bottom part of his body against her. When she felt him for the next time she moaned directly into his ear and this time embraced his neck, pulling him closer. She liked that so much. And she wanted more. He wanted her even more now as well. If that was even possible. He wanted to be inside her finally and give her even more pleasure. But before he needed to make sure. _

_“How are you feeling?” he asked, trying to control his breath._

_“I feel like if you won’t open these damn doors, I’m going to come here.” That wasn’t the exact answer he expected, but this one was even better. It was unbelievable how straight forward she was in that moment, knowing how shy she was on daily-basis. He really hoped it was him having that influence on her. _

When they got reminded of that moment they both needed to stop and take deep breaths. They looked at each other reactions and started laughing. They couldn’t believe that so many years passed and they were still these younger-selves so hungry to be as close to each other as possible.

“Remember kids are awake,” Brienne told him and laughed.

“Kids, kids, kids, kids,” he started repeating. “Okay, I’m fine. We can continue.”

_He pressed the handle and entered the bedroom with her in his arms. He laid her on the bed and standing in front of her he took off his pants, staying in his boxers only. She bit her lip, seeing him stripping down and encouraged him to come back to her with a finger gesture. He didn’t need anything more to convince him. There wasn’t a part of her body where he wouldn’t press his lips. He kissed her jaw, watching her face reacting to it, he kissed her neck and instantly wanted to see the pleasure on her face, even when he moved lower and started placing kisses on the top of her breasts, he was checking if it felt good for her. The fact that she had her bra still on turned him on even more because it meant there was still something left to discover. And when she tried to take off her skirt he stopped her as well. He liked it better that way. _

_When he was going down on her he finally got to her legs. He needed to take a deeper breath to realize that it was happening for real. These legs were going to be a death to him one day. He traced his way with a nose and when he got to her knees, he gently made her part her legs, in which she willingly helped him. She gasped when she felt his lips on the inner part of her thighs. Going back up, inch by inch and kiss by kiss he was uncovering her legs, moving her skirt’s fabric higher. He heard that she tried to keep any louder noises to herself and he couldn’t control himself before he went back to her lips. When he joined their foreheads, she opened her eyes and looked into his._

_“Let it all out, baby,” he told her, smiling and leaving few more kisses on her lips. When she nodded, he knew he can go back to what he had started. _

“I wanted you so bad at that moment. I was barely controlling myself to still go slow and don’t rush anything, but I really thought that we were close to doing it.” Brienne laughed shortly seeing that twenty years after that situation, he still couldn’t accept what happened next.

_He placed his hands on her thighs and wanted to reach her underwear edge to slide it down. When she felt his fingers so close to herself, her heart started beating faster and she finally let a moan out of her mouth, but suddenly they both heard apartment’s doors opening. Brienne instantly opened her eyes, taking a deep breath and looked questioningly at Jaime. After he groaned out of frustration, he sent her confused look as well, making sure she knew he had no idea what was happening as well and then moved his eyes to the opened doors of his bedroom. Who could it be? Was it Cersei? Did she come back for more stuff? If it was her, then she chose the worst moment possible. _

_“I am home, buddy, I don’t care if you sleep or not, come to say hi to me!” They heard from the living room and that was when Jaime groaned again. Tyrion was back from a long journey and in any other moment he would be so pleased to find out that it’s him, but not now. _

“I was furious at that moment. And furious is still not fully describing the way I felt.” He made a frowned face, still feeling angry about that situation.

“I could tell by the way you behaved, baby.” Brienne laid her head on his shoulder and patted his chest. “But I have always thought it was a sign for us to choose celibacy.”

“Oh, shut up, you fake prude!”

_“Is it your brother?” Brienne asked quietly to make sure and sat on the bed, trying to cover her legs with skirt again. For a moment he forgot that she had known his whole family._

_“I will lock these doors I swear and no one will interrupt us,” he told her firmly, but quietly as well, pointing at the doors, not raising his body yet. He was still lying down between her legs and kept his hand on her thigh, rubbing it. He must have looked really funny, cause she laughed at him quietly_.

_“He will get here soon, you need to go there.” Her sitting with her legs spread, chest still going up and down faster than usual and hair covering half of her face didn’t make this situation any easier. She was there in front of him and everything felt right finally. She was all his. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Again. And just when he was seconds from giving her exceptional pleasure, the universe felt like it was the best moment to test his patience. And self-control. _

_“I want you, not him,” he said, losing his inner battle a bit and finally raised his body just to lean for another kiss. She kissed him back, but broke the kiss as fast, but then kissed him once more for longer this time, smiling and he moaned from disappointment when he broke the kiss again. It must have been really entertaining for her to play with him like that. _

_“Next time, I promise,” she whispered to his ear and bit his lobe. He had never controlled himself more than at that moment. He rolled his eyes moving a bit away and looking at her, breathing out furiously, barely believing that again he was stopping himself._

_When he finally sat at the side of the bed and reached for his pants, she managed to get to him once again and kiss his shoulder. Seeing that he wasn’t the only one having a hard time and that she couldn’t let him go so easy as well was quite comforting. As comforting as it could be in the situation when he was so close to immersing himself in her and never letting her go again. _

_He turned his head to her. “You are not making anything easier, you know that right?” he asked and stood up, taking his trousers on, still looking at her. _

_“I’m sorry, I may have lied about controlling myself.” She shrugged her shoulders and grinned, proud of her response. She wasn’t willing to stop teasing him. And every time she behaved this way she got even hotter. He leaned to kiss her lips one more time_. 

_“You are going to regret that when I’m back,” he threatened her with a smirk on his face to which she replied with an even wider smile and pushed him away showing him that it was time for him to go. So finally, after taking a deep breath and cooling himself down, he left his bedroom._

“I was waiting for you and you didn’t come back. Eventually, I fall asleep…” she said and yawned, barely keeping her eyes opened.

“…just like you are about to do now,” he noticed and laughed shortly. “We have all the time in the world for these stories, please go to sleep now.”

She felt like she won’t stay up for long anyway, so she just nodded her head and kissed him softly. She closed her eyes and wanted to place her head on his chest to fall asleep comfortably, but then she was reminded of something.

“Will you check if Bella’s back? I am worried about her” she mumbled without looking at him and rolled to the other side, burying her head in the pillow and covering herself with bedsheets.

“Of course I will,” he replied and placed one more kiss on her cheek. “Goodnight, I love you”

“I love you too,” she replied and it felt like she was asleep seconds later.

Thankfully when Jaime checked his daughter’s room (what he did without knocking only when she was going out late), she was already sleeping. He didn’t need to make sure that the other two kids were in their rooms, cause he was sure of it. But Bella was visibly going through a harder time. And he saw so much from his younger self in her. Of course, Tyler looked like him and Joanna had his emotional side, but Bella was that angry one. Angry one who felt like everything was limiting her. And he already knew what story from his and Brienne’s life he wanted to share with her whenever right time will come.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Coming back to his bedroom he heard his phone ringing. He smiled to himself seeing that it was Tyrion.

“Hey, man, why you calling so late?” he asked.

“Uhh, sorry, I must have messed up time zones again.” He always did that.

“It’s fine. Brienne and kids are already sleeping, we can talk.” He closed his bedroom doors (so his conversation won’t wake up his wife), went to the living room and placed himself on the sofa. “Tell me how’s the journey?”

Tyrion started telling him all about his business trip on the other side of the world. At this point, his younger brother was barely ever staying home and he didn’t see him for long months. Tyrion worked as a political scientist for the big companies and helped authorities in decisions which influenced millions of people. Until that day Jaime didn’t know much details about it as it was “super-secret” and his brother had never really told him exactly what was he responsible for.

“…so there is a possibility I can actually visit you soon!”

“Are you serious? That’s amazing. Kids miss you as much as we do.”

“I miss them as well. How are they doing?”

“Two out of three good. One out of three decent. We finally told them the truth about our first meeting. And I feel like they took it well.”

“Oooh, I love that story.”

“Yes we told them about that and when Selwyn’s almost broke my arm.” Tyrion laughed, he loved that story as well. He loved many stories from their life. He was supportive of them from the moment he got to know about them. “And me and Brienne were talking about that moment when you interrupted us.”

“THAT is my favorite story.” And Jaime already knew that Tyrion was up for a trip back to the past as well.

_**Tyrion is going to pay me for that** he thought when he left his bedroom, leaving Brienne there alone, but seeing his brother made him a little bit less angry. _

_“Jaime!” Tyrion shouted happily seeing him. “I’m so sorry that I woke you up, but my flight got delayed,” he explained why he came back in the middle of the night. _

_“It’s all fine. I didn’t go to sleep yet. It’s good to see you, man.”. He really missed his brother as he didn’t have many chances to see him. When he came closer, he gave him a tight hug. _

_He waited until Tyrion finally made himself a few sandwiches and they both sat at the table. They chatted a bit about younger one’s journey and all the places he saw there and Jaime told him what was happening in the office during his absence._

“You were still working for Cersei back then, remember?”

“I actually want to forget about it. It was so long ago. Who was she marrying back then?”

“Oberyn.”

_“I’m actually quite sad I didn’t make it to the wedding,” Tyrion said finally. “Did I miss anything?” he asked and looked suspiciously at Jaime. Could he know about what happened there? No, there was no way he knows about anything, that was just regular question and he was overreacting._

_“Not really.” Jaime tried to keep as straight face as possible. He didn’t want any member of his family to get into anything that was between him and Brienne after he saw how her father reacted. They both also tried to avoid Cersei. “Our sister getting all the spotlight. Nothing new.” _

_“Oh, you say so?” He chewed the last piece of a sandwich and got a sip of a juice, watching him closely. Jaime just nodded and tried to calm his breath. **He knows nothing** he told himself._

_The thing was – Tyrion was the only person that he would ever talk to about anything – his problems, messed up relation with his father, contacts with women – as so far it was hard to call any of them relationship. He got on so well with his brother, they have supported each other and always had each other’s backs. Tyrion was never the one to let him down unlike Cersei or their father as he usually had a hard time with them as well. But he and Brienne were meeting only for two weeks and her father behavior made them agree that they will wait until making it official. Also, they still weren’t sure how to call whatever there was between them. And as they were still figuring it out themselves then anyone else involved in that wasn’t helping. _

“But you have already known everything. And you were so sure that it was connected to the wedding.”

“I wasn’t sure at all. But I have known you. You were a loner. The only time you have met new people and women were family events or business meetings. So the wedding fit perfectly.”

_“You have never been a good liar, brother,” Tyrion said finally when he finished his meal and surprised Jaime. _

_“What are you talking about?” _

_Tyrion got closer to him and whispered: “Next time hide your clothes better” and he pointed at the sofa in the living room. For a moment Jaime had no idea what he meant but then he realized. Shirts. Damn shirts. _

_“So… did I miss anything?” he repeated, expecting a different answer that time. Jaime felt so torn feeling his brother's eyes on him and tried to avoid his look. On one hand, he really didn’t want to tell him anything, but on the other, it didn’t seem so bad to finally let it all out and he didn't expect Tyrion to react as radical as Brienne's father did._

_“I have met someone. On the wedding.” He breathed out, closing his eyes. He really hoped he won’t regret it. In the end, Tyrion had already known that there was someone else in the apartment and them meeting in the morning seemed inevitable so it would be better if he explained it all to him before it happened._

_“I knew it.” Younger one loved to be right. “Who is it? Are you sure she’s not a cousin or someone like that?” _

_“She’s not. I am sure of that.” _

_“And…?” Tyrion visibly wanted more details._

_“We got drunk. Like super drunk” he confessed, feeling like this part would interest his brother the most. Also, he didn’t want to reveal from the beginning that it was Brienne. There was a high possibility that Tyrion knew her and the fact that it was actually her would make him ask too many unneeded questions. He planned to tell him what happened so even when they meet, hopefully, everything will solve itself. _

_“Oh God, Jaime. How old are you? Eighteen?”_

_“Her date dumped her, I wanted her to have fun.”_

_“Why do you have such little faith in your own charm? But please tell me you didn’t have drunk sex?” _

_“We **almost** did.” Tyrion groaned from disappointment, wanting some more details. _

_“Almost?”_

_“I stopped her.”_

_“You… what?” At that point, Tyrion was really confused with the story that started so appealing to him._

“And then you let it all out” Tyrion laughed and Jaime rolled his eyes. He totally understood now what Brienne meant by saying that some things were awkward to remember.

_“You won’t understand.” Jaime shook his head and tried to find the right words to explain what he felt. But there was no way he will express that in few simple words. “When we met we talked for hours. It didn’t matter that we were drunk. I told her how I feel and she listened to me. And she confessed to me so much as well. I have never felt such a bold, instant connection with anyone before. I have never met anyone like that before. I was so drunk. And I wanted her so much. She’s so beautiful by the way. But I just felt like I wanted much much more than only that. And then when I woke up to her and it felt so good and I felt like I want to do this every single day till the end of times. She was just too precious for a one-night stand. I want more like a 50-years stand with her. And now we meet almost every day and it gets even better, even if we do nothing and it seems like she is enjoying everything as well and I just want to make her the happiest…” And that was the moment when Tyrion laughed. A bit too loud. And also the moment when Jaime stopped his monologue taking a deep breath, finally realizing that there was a world outside of him talking about Brienne. _

_“You are drowned, man," his brother replied still laughing. _

_“Oh fuck off,” Jaime bit back, quite embarrassed that he went so far with his thoughts and feelings._

_“You are totally, hopelessly in-“_

_“Don’t you dare finish it”, he threatened him._

_“…looooooove,” Tyrion added anyway, whispering this word like it was a secret. _

“I was so scared of that word. I didn’t even know what it meant back then. I was a grown-up man and I had no idea about love. And then she showed up. And guess anything I have felt with her was that. I loved her since the very beginning when I talked to her at the bar. I was just scared that it wasn’t what she was feeling and I didn’t want it to be spoken out loud.”

Tyrion sighed as a response. “Thankfully, I was there for you to save you from overthinking and remind you that I ruined your evening.”

_“Sooo, she’s here tonight.” His brother brought him back to reality, probably seeing that he was deeply immersed in his thoughts and he was thankful for that._

_“Yes, she is.”_

_“Aaaaand judging by shirts on the floor…” he started, but realizing what he was talking about Jaime interrupted him quickly. _

_“First of all: it’s none of your business. Second of all: no, cause you chose the worst moment possible to show up,” he needed to add to make his brother guilty._

_“Ooops, my bad”. But he didn’t seem guilty at all, just entertained by this whole situation again. _

_“You owe me for the rest of your life.” Jaime finally said, fighting the smile coming to his face. He missed his brother so much and this kind of exchanges between them._

_“I promise to pay for your wedding”. He winked and when Jaime opened his mouth to reply, Tyrion stood up from the table. _

“And I did as I promised!”

_“Okay, brother, enough of this love roller-coaster for today” he continued. “Hope I will meet your one and only in the morning. Sleep well.”_

_“I would sleep well if only someone didn’t disturb me,” Jaime told him a bit louder, without moving from the table._

_“Oh, it feels so good to be back home,” Tyrion said, completely ignoring his words and closing his bedroom’s doors. Jaime rolled his eyes, but in the end, smiled involuntarily. He wanted to stay in that moment for as long as he could. _

“I was so happy at that moment. Cersei moved out, you were back, I had Brienne. And I told you about everything and in your weird way you were so supportive. It just felt so good.”

“And it still continues, brother” Tyrion reminded him and he was right. He was even happier now than he was back then. “And soon I will be with you as well!”

“Please call me when you will be landing, we will pick you up from the airport.”

“I will,” he said happily and went silent for a moment. “Jaime, I’m sorry I think I need to go now. It was great to talk to you.”

“No worries, go and save the world.”

“See you soon.”

“See you!”

He sighed and put his phone away. Things couldn’t be any better. He had Brienne and kids and they were all going to meet with Tyrion soon. He yawned and stretched feeling like it was time for him to go sleep as well.

He came back to the bedroom, quietly closed the doors, turned off the light and joined Brienne in the bed, gently hugging her from behind. He immersed his nose in her hair and it brought him back to the moment when he came back to her after talking with Tyrion. She was wearing his t-shirts and he smiled seeing how adorable she looked even though considering her height his t-shirt was still too short for her. And just as same as she did back then, she mumbled some unrecognizable words.

And he exactly knew what to answer. “It’s me, please sleep, my love”. Just as he told her all these years before. But this time saying _love _out loud didn’t make him shiver and fear that she might have heard that. This time he hoped she heard him, cause he realized again that he must have been the happiest man in the world and with a warm feeling inside, he closed his eyes, held her tighter and fell asleep soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! Also some side notes:
> 
> #1 Why Tyler? Cause, in short, it’s Ty. Just like Tyrion.  
Why Isabella? For all the Twilight stans on twitter, who talk about it constantly. Also B(ella) like Brienne.  
And Joanna is obvious. Also J like Jaime.
> 
> #2 Keeping book realness (because I can and I like this concept) Brienne is fourteen years younger than Jaime. When they have met Brienne was 22, Jaime was 36. When twins were born Brienne was 24, Jaime was 38. When Joanna was born Brienne was 26 and Jaime was 40. When they are telling their kids the truth about their first meeting Brienne is 42 and Jaime is 56. Twins are 18, Joanna is 16.

**Author's Note:**

> (This work was once continued/supposed to be continued, unfortunately I know I won't do this so I hope you enjoyed this little piece of the story.)
> 
> Please check my other stories for more of my work! Thank you for reading!


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